Synopses & Reviews
"A nonchalant string of anecdotes and wisecracks, told by a fellow who doesn't have a name, and has never caught a mouse, and isn't much good for anything except watching human beings in action..." —
The New YorkerWritten over the course of 1904-1906, Soseki Natsume's comic masterpiece, I Am a Cat, satirizes the foolishness of upper-middle-class Japanese society during the Meiji era. With acerbic wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a world-weary stray kitten who comments on the follies and foibles of the people around him.
A classic of Japanese literature, I Am a Cat is one of Soseki's best-known novels. Considered by many as the greatest writer in modern Japanese history, Soseki's I Am a Cat is a classic novel sure to be enjoyed for years to come.
Review
"A nonchalant string of anecdotes and wisecracks, told by a fellow who doesn't have a name." —New Yorker
Review
"A nonchalant string of anecdotes and wisecracks, told by a fellow who doesn't have a name."—New Yorker
Synopsis
Written over the course of 1904-6, Soseki's comic masterpiece,
I Am a Cat, satirizes the follies of upper-middle-class Japanese society during the Meiji era. With acerbic wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a world-weary stray kitten who comments on the follies and foibles of the people around him.
The New Yorker called it "a nonchalant string of anecdotes and wisecracks, told by a fellow who doesn't have a name, and has never caught a mouse, and isn't much good for anything except watching human beings in action..."
About the Author
Born Natsume Kinnosuke, Soseki was brought up in a middle-class family at the beginning of the Meiji period. After an extensive education in English, Chinese, and Japanese literature, Soseki taught English at the University of Tokyo. In 1907, he gave up teaching to devote himself to writing and produced a number of books, including Botchan, The Three-Cornered World, and Mon. He died in Tokyo in 1916.